All that is required to commence a civil action is the service
of a summons uponon a
defendant. This is unlike RuleFed.R.Civ.P. 3,
F.R.Civ.P., which requires the filing of a
complaint with the court in order to commence an action.
Rule 3 was derived from N.D.R.C.
1943 § 28-0501. See also Rule 4(c) concerningsets out the contents of the summons and
explains service of the complaint.